A Perfect Antidote To My Sailboat Mold Woes

I live in Alaska. Southeast, where it doesn't get TOO cold, but, until this summer, its never been what I call warm. >90% of the time, our local temp is within 15 degrees of 45 degrees F. We average about 120 inches of rain here. Its normally VERY humid here, and I was having simply horrible problems with my sailboat's interior. Whenever the temperature dropped, condensate would accumulate on many of the surfaces. From the ceiling it would drip or roll down and...geez, what a mess.

This dehumidifier has been a godsend. They advertise that it works down to 44 degrees. Maybe mine is an aberration, but its been working flawlessly no matter what the temperature. If it gets below freezing, it does just sit there until the temp goes up enough for it's sensors to get triggered. I've descended into the cabin to find it chugging away in sub-40 degree temperatures, however, and I haven't had a problem (other than inadvertantly dumping the water once) since I installed it.

It has two wheels on the rear and no wheels in front. This would make it easy to move in most traditional settings. In my case, I was a bit afraid that it would roll out of place when the winds got up. Empty, that's a distinct possibility. Semi-full, however (its normal state), its been incredibly stable.

There's a removable "pre-filter" that I've removed a couple of times and washed out with a hose....mostly while my husband was sanding down and relacquering the interior.

It has a large container for holding the water. There's a plug that can be removed from the midpoint of this container and a 4-5 foot hose (included) attached for draining the water automatically. This is what I did immediately, with the hose draining into the bilge.

On the control panel, there is a light that indicates that it has power, and a light that indicates that its turned on (not necessarily running, but "on" in the sense that it's waiting for the humidity level to hit the level where it'll start dehumidifying). Its completely quiet when its not actively dehumidifying. When first turned on, it takes about 3 minutes before it'll actually turn on and start dehumidifying (and making the accompanying dehumidifying noise). This is documented in the manual, but a little disconcerting when you first hook it up. I remember thinking that maybe I had gotten a dud. Apparently it takes a little while - maybe warms up internal components or performs some sort of self-test?

It has a rheostat, so you're not limited to predetermined settings but can choose where you want to be within the whole continuum of humidity. This setup also allows you to make fairly fine-tuned adjustments, as needed.

There are two levels of dehumidifying power and also two levels of "air filtration only." I don't really understand the use of the latter control, since there's only the one air filter in the unit. However, there's a marked difference in how loud the dehumidifier is when its at the low power setting vs the high power setting. At low power, its not in the least bit disturbing or obtrusive when running, even within the close confines of a boat interior.

I can't vouch for the range when used in a more traditional setting, a basement for instance, but my boat has two cabins, a galley, a bathroom, and the main salon. Keeping the doors to everything open, it's been doing a most excellent job for about 3 years now.